Cents, the only fully integrated software, hardware and payments technology platform built for the laundry industry, announced the close of a $140 million Series C round led by Sumeru Equity Partners, with additional participation from Series B lead Camber Creek. The raise marks the largest single software investment in the laundry vertical to date — and a defining moment for an industry that is ready for a technology revolution.

The capital infusion accelerates Cents’ mission to bring modern, accessible technology to one of America’s most enduring and underserved small business sectors. With more than 90,000 retail laundry businesses and hundreds of thousands of laundry rooms in multi-family communities across the U.S., the industry is an essential everyday service primed for transformation. The Cents platform combines AI-native business management software, proprietary hardware and integrated payments — giving operators the tools to run smarter, scale faster and deliver a better experience for their customers.

“Owning a laundry business is one of the purest expressions of the American entrepreneurial dream, and provides an essential service woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. These operators — from first-generation owners to multi-unit operators, community anchors to tech-driven innovators — all share the same relentless drive,” said Alex Jekowsky, co-founder and CEO of Cents. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Sumeru to invest deeper in our industry and to bring a level of innovation, support, and service that these operators deserve.”

The investment will fuel Cents’ next phase of growth across several key fronts: accelerating its AI-powered product suite, deepening its commitment to customer support and experience, expanding its product line for laundromats and dry cleaners, and doubling down on its partnerships with route operators and equipment distributors. The raise also positions Cents to invest in new proprietary payment hardware infrastructure — technology designed to make modernized payment experiences more affordable and accessible for operators and their customers alike.

“Alex, Gilli and the Cents team have built the go-to operating system for modern laundry and garment care,” said Chris Litster, growth partner at Sumeru, and Nathan Stanley, principal at Sumeru. “This is a critical, global industry that has benefited from Cents’ innovation in digitizing operations and payments technology so operators can run their businesses better around the clock. Cents took an operator-first mindset and invested heavily to build its category-defining product suite — enabling laundry and garment care SMBs to grow, manage and understand their businesses like never before. We are excited to partner with the company and look forward to seeing what the team builds next for this growing customer base.”

As part of the investment, Sumeru Managing Partner and Co-Founder Sanjeet Mitra will join the Cents board of directors.